Chuck Murray
WIS & Effingwoods Hockey Almanac
Re: UNH Wildcats-The Back Nine and Beyond!
OK let me play devil's advocate for a moment here. So ... UNH takes a two goal lead into the 3rd period on Friday night, and scores with what was likely their first shot of the period two minutes in to make it a 3 goal lead (5-2). We already know in retrospect that UNH had a grand total of three (3) shots in the 3rd period, and one of those was the late ENG, so Leclerc made one (1) save otherwise. And UNH was able to win comfortably 6-3 despite conceding those extra SOG's and all that extra time of possession. What's the issue then?
Harken back to last Fall, when UNH blew a 4 or 5 goal lead to mighty UMass Amherst. Big leads can dissipate, and you don't get any extra points for winning by a larger margin. And there's nothing that will anger a coach more with his players - and likewise fans with their coach - than not being aware of the prevailing game conditions. It's why teams who are in the lead usually play more conservatively, and why teams who are trailing often throw caution to the wind. You also don't get docked for points by losing by a larger margin. And just like a team leading by 2-3 goals isn't going to want to play a wide open game that plays into the trailing opposition's hands, a team trailing by a similar margin isn't going to want to match neutral zone traps with the team they're chasing to try to get back into the game.
So, in conclusion ... who cares that UNH got outshot 15-3 or whatever, or were out-possessed in the 3rd period on Friday night? They got the win, and isn't that the object of the game?
I think the problem occurs when you have a lead and go into "playing not to win" too early in the game. Just like in football with the so-called prevent defense ... sometimes it's tactically astute to give up small things to preserve the bigger things. If UNH was guarding a one goal lead for the entire 3rd period, I agree with your point. A three goal lead, though? That's a huge hill to climb for even the best teams with the most potent offenses against a team willing to clog the middle and letting you nibble (repeatedly even) along the edges of the zone.
We pretty much saw the situation almost in reverse on Saturday night ... once UNH clawed back even at 1-1 late in the second period, it looked like CC was happy to play things out for a tie. Unfortunately, it felt the same way for UNH, and when CC realized UNH was not going to press too hard for the W, then they decided to go for it themselves a little late in the 3rd period. When Tirone had his "moment" late in regulation, that can't have hurt CC's morale going into OT. And then MG handed it to them on a silver platter in the OT.
IMO the single best argument against UNH slowing things down in Friday's game, is that sometimes that can have a carryover effect on the next night's game against the same opponent. After Blackburn's early goal in the 3rd period Friday night - at which time UNH had scored five goals in just two periods' worth of play - they would go almost the next four periods/77+ minutes with only one non-empty net goal.
In the end, CC made the right adjustments for Saturday night, played a more contained game, and UNH - when basically gifted a 3 point weekend - got greedy and made some late mistakes that gave one of those points away. I'll chalk that up to the learning curve ... but for a young team to have thrown caution to the wind on Friday and put those two points in jeopardy, that really could have put a huge early dent in the team's emerging confidence. You know I'm hardly the one who runs automatically to the defense of the coaches, but this time under these circumstances, I can live with it. Now the important thing is to learn from what they messed up, and to make it right going forwards.
OK let me play devil's advocate for a moment here. So ... UNH takes a two goal lead into the 3rd period on Friday night, and scores with what was likely their first shot of the period two minutes in to make it a 3 goal lead (5-2). We already know in retrospect that UNH had a grand total of three (3) shots in the 3rd period, and one of those was the late ENG, so Leclerc made one (1) save otherwise. And UNH was able to win comfortably 6-3 despite conceding those extra SOG's and all that extra time of possession. What's the issue then?
Harken back to last Fall, when UNH blew a 4 or 5 goal lead to mighty UMass Amherst. Big leads can dissipate, and you don't get any extra points for winning by a larger margin. And there's nothing that will anger a coach more with his players - and likewise fans with their coach - than not being aware of the prevailing game conditions. It's why teams who are in the lead usually play more conservatively, and why teams who are trailing often throw caution to the wind. You also don't get docked for points by losing by a larger margin. And just like a team leading by 2-3 goals isn't going to want to play a wide open game that plays into the trailing opposition's hands, a team trailing by a similar margin isn't going to want to match neutral zone traps with the team they're chasing to try to get back into the game.
So, in conclusion ... who cares that UNH got outshot 15-3 or whatever, or were out-possessed in the 3rd period on Friday night? They got the win, and isn't that the object of the game?
I think the problem occurs when you have a lead and go into "playing not to win" too early in the game. Just like in football with the so-called prevent defense ... sometimes it's tactically astute to give up small things to preserve the bigger things. If UNH was guarding a one goal lead for the entire 3rd period, I agree with your point. A three goal lead, though? That's a huge hill to climb for even the best teams with the most potent offenses against a team willing to clog the middle and letting you nibble (repeatedly even) along the edges of the zone.
We pretty much saw the situation almost in reverse on Saturday night ... once UNH clawed back even at 1-1 late in the second period, it looked like CC was happy to play things out for a tie. Unfortunately, it felt the same way for UNH, and when CC realized UNH was not going to press too hard for the W, then they decided to go for it themselves a little late in the 3rd period. When Tirone had his "moment" late in regulation, that can't have hurt CC's morale going into OT. And then MG handed it to them on a silver platter in the OT.
IMO the single best argument against UNH slowing things down in Friday's game, is that sometimes that can have a carryover effect on the next night's game against the same opponent. After Blackburn's early goal in the 3rd period Friday night - at which time UNH had scored five goals in just two periods' worth of play - they would go almost the next four periods/77+ minutes with only one non-empty net goal.
In the end, CC made the right adjustments for Saturday night, played a more contained game, and UNH - when basically gifted a 3 point weekend - got greedy and made some late mistakes that gave one of those points away. I'll chalk that up to the learning curve ... but for a young team to have thrown caution to the wind on Friday and put those two points in jeopardy, that really could have put a huge early dent in the team's emerging confidence. You know I'm hardly the one who runs automatically to the defense of the coaches, but this time under these circumstances, I can live with it. Now the important thing is to learn from what they messed up, and to make it right going forwards.
